New Delhi: The tall claims of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards the eradication of Naxalism have fallen as there are 6,278 villages in Odisha where there is no mobile access or connectivity.
While speaking at a high-level meeting on 'Left-Wing Extremism', Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that 6,278 villages, which is the largest in the country, have no mobile connectivity. The meeting was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
However, hailing the efforts of the Union Home Ministry for sanctioning 488 mobile towers for Odisha recently, Patnaik stressed that an estimated 2,000 more mobile base stations will be required to provide coverage to other uncovered villages in the state.
"It is also pertinent that most of the interiors depend on mobile connectivity and mobile internet for banking, education, and delivery of all government services. Today, the basic need, therefore, is of 4G mobile base stations at all places. It is, therefore, required to upgrade the 2G base stations also, erected earlier," he said at the meeting which was organised by Union Home Ministry.
Patnaik also brought to the notice of the Centre that the LWE-affected districts are not part of the Railways network. "The Odisha government and Railway Ministry are jointly constructing two-legs –Jeypore to Nawarangpur and Jeypore to Malkangiri –through cost-sharing," he said, adding that the missing part between Malkangiri to Bhadrachalam of length 153 km and Nawarangpur to Junagarh of length 118 km can provide a very viable alternative path to the trunk routes of the railway and it would have a huge impact on the economic growth of these areas.
"We have not been successful in creating banking facilities in these areas. The state government is ready to provide land, buildings, etc for setting up bank branches free of cost. The Centre must take expeditious steps to set up banks within a specific time frame of one year or so,"
he said.
He stressed that the state government's commitment will continue with our pro-active security strategy combined with sustained and holistic development of tribal areas to address the issue of left-wing extremism.
Patnaik urged the Centre to conduct a study on how many children from Naxal-hit regions in the country succeed in national-level examinations.
"MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) should do a study on how many children from these LWE affected areas across the country are getting into national level examinations like NEET, IIT, JEE and others," Patnaik said, adding, "If our systems continue to bypass these areas, it is not going to help the cause of people of LWE affected areas."
Maintaining that Naxalism remains a critical internal security challenge for the nation, Patnaik said that even while fighting COVID, Odisha sustained its efforts to curb LWE activities with substantial success.
The chief minister also put forth several other proposals, including expanding NH-326 from Jeypore to Motu via Malkangiri to four lanes.